Tuesday, March 18, 2008

And the Wall Came Tumbling Down

Here’s a new low in mixing the ad side of the business with the news side: Dunkin' Donuts bought a one-third page ad in Charlotte Sun's main section Sunday to advertise its products and promote a give-away – free coffee for a year to the first 50 people who crossed store thresholds at 5 a.m. Thursday (translation: get a gift-card for a cup a week for one year).

Just in case readers missed the pitch, the business news staff rewrote the promotional ad into a “news story.”

OWW is howling with dismay. No one was interviewed, no one was called to get some sort of local angle on the promotion. No local franchisee was named – although store locations throughout the region were helpfully provided advertised in the "news story."

There are eager young interns working at this newspaper. They are learning some mighty bad habits. My advice: Don't put the Charlotte Sun on your résumé. It'll look bad.

2 comments:

You are correct about the resume... I worked at the Sun for about three months in 1990 (out of necessity to pay bills) and never told a soul. My standing comment about this rag is it isn't worth wrapping old fish in...